Saturday, February 13, 2010

A Valentine Poem: Little Creature Formed of Joy and Mirth

This year instead of the usual "roses are red, violets are blue, how do I love thee, let me count the ways" sort of poem I normally write for Sweetie, I thought I'd take a three-line poem-thought/fragment from William Blake (English poet , 1757 - 1827) and expand it slightly.

LITTLE CREATURE FORMED OF JOY AND MIRTH

For My Valentine in the Year 2010

The angel who presided at my birth

Said: "Little creature, formed of joy and mirth,

Go, love, without the help of anything on earth."

But I found you to love and with joy and mirth

We created little creatures at whose births

We said: "Go, love, while you are on the earth."

And forth they went to love on earth

Creating creatures at whose birth

Was said: "Go, love, with joy and mirth."

I say the angel presiding at my birth

Placed you, little creature of joy and mirth,

In my path so I could find you here on earth.

Happy Valentine's Day.

With apology to William Blake whose poem fragment "The angel who presided at my birth" are the first three lines above. Source: The Poems of William Blake, Edited by W.B. Keats. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. 1893. Page 143.